Look who's on DC's mystery Batman/Superman Holiday variant cover

Batman/Superman: World's Finest #10 Holiday McCartney Variant Cover by Dan Mora (Image credit: DC)

Remember that redacted, mystery figure on December's Batman/Superman: World's Finest #10 holiday variant cover by Dan Mora we told you about in September?

DC has finally revealed who the figure is, but in somewhat usual DC fashion, only sort of.

It sure looks like Paul McCartney of Beatles fame, doesn't it? And judging by the full cover, he and Superman seem to be singing McCartney's own Christmas classic "Wonderful Christmastime," karaoke-style.

(We wound up being pretty close earlier this week when we guessed Mick Jagger).

The publisher revealed the cover to comic book retailers on November 16, but so far has made no public announcement that we're aware of. And it didn't exactly shout it from the rooftops to retailers either. Retailers tell us the cover was revealed without a specific mention in a weekly newsletter to their community, with DC identifying the cover only as the "Open-to-Order Holiday McCartney Variant Cover by Dan Mora."

The cover has also been revealed on DC distributor Lunar's public-facing website, but only as a "Dan Mora Holiday cover."

As to why Paul McCartney is appearing on a DC holiday-themed variant cover, your guess is as good as ours, but this would not be the first time McCartney (or at least his likeness) appeared on a DC cover.

Well, again, sort of...

1970's Batman #222 cover by Neal Adams (Image credit: DC)

Neal Adams famously drew a very Beatles-like band on the cover of 1970's Batman #222. Written by Frank Robbins and illustrated by Irv Novick and Dick Giordano, the story actually involved a Beatles-ish British band called Oliver Twist and played off the urban legends/conspiracy theories about the real Paul McCartney dying in 1967 that were popular at the time.

As for what's going on inside Batman/Superman World's Finest #10, the story ties into the ongoing saga of Boy Thunder, Superman's secret sidekick from the past who has been hiding something from the Man of Steel and his best friend Batman.

In World's Finest #10, Boy Thunder's secrets come home to roost as the Teen Titans will push Boy Thunder to reveal what he's hiding to Superman and Batman - potentially jeopardizing his relationship with the two heroes.

Batman/Superman: World's Finest #10 goes on sale December 20.

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I've been Newsarama's resident Marvel Comics expert and general comic book historian since 2011, and now I'm the Entertainment Writer at GamesRadar+. I've also been the on-site reporter at most major comic conventions such as Comic-Con International: San Diego, New York Comic Con, and C2E2. Outside of comic journalism, I am the artist of many weird pictures, and the guitarist of many heavy riffs. (They/Them)